(Prothom Alo) -- The interim government has decided to allow candidates to take the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examination up to four times, backtracking from its previous position of limiting attempts to three.
The council of advisers took the decision in a meeting at the chief adviser’s office in the capital’s Tejgaon area on Thursday, with chief adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus in the chair.
On 24 October, the government decided to restrict BCS exam attempts to three times and set the maximum age limit at 32. As the decision sparked widespread debate and criticism, they reviewed the decision and increased the attempt limit to four.
However, the maximum age limit to apply for the BCS examinations remains unchanged at 32.
According to the chief adviser’s press wiring, the council of advisers, in the meeting on Thursday, approved a draft of the maximum age limit ordinance for government, autonomous, semi-autonomous, statutory organisations, and public non-financial corporations, with the application age limit at 32 years.
The age limit will take effect for BCS cadre and other government positions, while it will be applied to autonomous and semi-autonomous organisations subject to incorporation of their designated regulations. The defense and law enforcement agencies, however, will adhere to their current recruitment age regulations.
Earlier, a government review committee proposed to raise the age limit to 35 for men and 37 for women, without saying anything specific about the age of retirement.
Currently, the general age limit for entry into government service is 30 years, with an extension to 32 for the candidate with the freedom fighter's quota.
